


(dis)connect

by treescape



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: 212th Attack Battalion - Freeform, Fluff, M/M, New Relationship, long distance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:13:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26123281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/treescape/pseuds/treescape
Summary: The voice was low, but not quite low enough to escape his notice. “The General missed another transmission, sir.”Obi-Wan closed his eyes in embarrassment against the sound of those words, though he wasn’t exactly sure how that was supposed to help. He’d hoped to be a little more discreet in his disappointment.Or, figuring out galactic time zones is the worst.
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi/Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 30
Kudos: 267





	(dis)connect

The voice was low, but not quite low enough to escape his notice. “The General missed another transmission, sir.”

Obi-Wan closed his eyes in embarrassment against the sound of those words, though he wasn’t exactly sure how that was supposed to help. He’d hoped to be a little more discreet in his disappointment.

He really hadn’t thought he’d given anything away.

Cody’s voice held a hint of a frown from where it whispered across the bridge. Obi-Wan could practically see him lean in close to Waxer, their heads together as they whispered. “How many times is that, now?”

 _Three_ , Obi-Wan thought. Three times in three days he and Anakin had tried to be available at the same time, had tried to connect through more than recorded messages, and three times they had somehow missed each other. Galactic time zones were bothersome enough even _without_ factoring in two ships constantly on the move, commanded by two generals unusually prone to attracting trouble. Obi-Wan knew it wasn’t exactly important in the grand scheme of things, here against the backdrop of a galactic war, but sometimes it was difficult not to feel stretched thin when he didn’t have Anakin’s passion and energy to shore him up.

“What was it this time?” he heard Cody ask.

“I believe he fell asleep, sir.”

A pause, and then, the words a mix of sympathy and approval, “the General doesn’t get enough sleep.”

“I don’t think he cares right now, sir.”

It had been the worst part, aside from not actually getting to speak with Anakin: Obi-Wan’s own body had betrayed him. He’d only sat down for an instant, intending to complete a few more reports; the next thing he’d known, he was blinking awake on the bridge of the _Negotiator_ and three hours had passed. He’d hurried back to his quarters with as much dignity as he could muster, only to find his transceiver blinking with another recorded message from Anakin.

Truly, losing Anakin’s constant presence at the onset of the Wars had been something of a difficult adjustment. Although they were often assigned to work alongside one another for practicality’s sake, being so accustomed to working together, Obi-Wan sometimes went weeks without seeing Anakin in person.

It seemed like a particularly cruel joke of the Force that a mere few days after their relationship had very unexpectedly acquired a rather _different_ degree of intimacy, they should be deployed to opposite ends of the galaxy.

Obi-Wan knew he should be grateful for what he had—Anakin was alive and somehow in love with him—but that really didn’t do anything to diminish how much he wanted to see Anakin’s face in real time, even if it couldn’t be in person.

He would just have to make sure he didn’t miss Anakin again.

\---

The universe, of course, decided to make things rather more difficult than Obi-Wan would have liked.

The following day passed uneventfully, space and time fleeing by in a haze of hyperspace travel. The _Negotiator_ was still several days out from Arel IV, where Obi-Wan had been dispatched to address a humanitarian crisis, and Obi-Wan hoped the quietness boded well for him.

At 2000 galactic standard hours, which was when Anakin had indicated he should have time, Obi-Wan locked himself in his personal quarters. With a steady hand and a moderate amount of hope, he entered Anakin’s code into his transceiver.

He felt like he should have known what was coming, but when Anakin didn’t answer, Obi-Wan allowed his shoulders to slump for just a moment. The weight of the exhaustion he had been holding at bay threatened to take hold, but he quickly straightened again to record a message.

“Anakin. I am sorry to have missed you again. I hope that nothing untoward has happened.” He felt the instinct to scrub his hands against his cheeks and beard, his thoughts a tangle of worry and loneliness. Force, it was ridiculous to feel lonely when he was surrounded by some of the best men he’d ever known, an entire battalion of brothers and friends, but Anakin’s presence had long ago become like sunlight to him. “Perhaps we can try again tomorrow.”

Except…

“Never mind,” Obi-Wan quickly corrected. “You’re scheduled to be on Besta tomorrow evening. The day after, perhaps. Say hello to Ahsoka for me, and thank her for keeping you out of trouble. I’m sure she’s saved your life at least a dozen times since I spoke to you last.”

For all the forced joviality in his voice, that hit a little too close to his worries for Anakin and Ahsoka’s safety. He searched for the right words to say, but somehow, the cold non-response of the transceiver seemed to chisel away at his vocabulary.

The bitter taste of disappointment was strong in his mouth.

“Take care of yourself. I do miss you.” It wasn’t nearly enough, but it would have to do for now.

Short of an all out catastrophe, Obi-Wan swore to himself, he would find a way to catch Anakin in two days time.

\---

Naturally, two evenings later saw an unexpected summons to attend a Council meeting via hologram, and while that didn’t quite count as a _catastrophe_ , it wasn’t exactly something Obi-Wan could ignore. He pushed down the sinking feeling in his stomach, holoed in, and listened attentively.

When he was finally able to return to his quarters, his transceiver blinked with a new message, received not quite two hours ago.

Obi-Wan lowered himself to the edge of his narrow bed and played the message.

“Uh, hey.” Anakin’s holographic image flooded the room with a dim light. He looked tired, though it was always a little more difficult to tell through a hologram, the lines of his face made a little softer and hazier by technology. “Looks like I missed you again. Hope you’re okay? Sorry I wasn’t around yesterday. We had an unexpected visit from some droids, but we’re fine, I promise.” He chewed at his lower lip—unconsciously, Obi-Wan knew—and then offered a small smile. “I, uh, I miss you too. A lot. I’ll try again tomorrow, but I know you might be busy on Arel IV.”

Anakin paused, and then let out a genuine laugh, the sudden sound of it filling the silence of Obi-Wan’s quarters with warmth. “Oh, and Ahsoka says to tell you she’s saved my life _two_ dozen times in the last twenty-four hours alone.” The roll of his eyes was a little too exaggerated to be anything but fond. “Talk to you later, Obi-Wan.”

On impulse, Obi-Wan tried to hail Anakin back, but there was no response.

Before going to sleep, Obi-Wan played the message back twice more just to hear Anakin’s laugh again.

\---

The next morning saw Obi-Wan arrive at Arel IV, where the devastation that had been wreaked by recent battle was far more widespread than the Council had believed. Obi-Wan spent long hours ensconced in discussion with the planet’s ruling cabinet, trying to assess the extent of it, and by the time he emerged it was quite clear that he was going to miss Anakin again.

Well, Obi-Wan had learned long ago that some things couldn’t be helped.

Obi-Wan threw himself into triaging supplies with a vigor that came from purpose and efficiency more than anything else. After a year of grueling war, he felt he was running on autopilot, and they seemed all he had left to give. 

He would give them willingly. If he was unable to alert the Senate to the additional needed supplies as soon as possible, it would be beings other than himself who would suffer.

After an indeterminable amount of time, he sensed Cody come up beside him, and turned to survey his second in command.

“We’ve got all the supplies unloaded as directed and the relevant counts sorted out, General,” Cody said briskly.

“Excellent,” Obi-Wan said. “Thank you, Cody. If you can send me those numbers, I’ll get all the paperwork sorted out right now so we can have more supplies on their way.”

“I believe you have a previous engagement scheduled, sir.”

Obi-Wan frowned, searching his memory for whatever meeting Cody could possibly mean. He’d already met with the high cabinet, and the lower legislative body, and the senator’s aides. He glanced at his chronometer out of habit, and it hit very suddenly.

Cody meant _Anakin_.

Probably Obi-Wan should be properly embarrassed that Cody had picked up on his patterns so entirely, but he found he couldn’t summon the energy; he’d find the strength for it later, he was sure.

As much as Obi-Wan wanted to speak with Anakin, however, he could hardly shirk his duties in order to do it. Regretfully and resolutely, he shook his head. “I really must…”

“Right here, sir. Waxer already took care of it.” Cody handed him a datapad that seemed almost to materialize from nowhere, a mission report form already pulled up on the screen. It was neatly filled out and annotated with a level of detail that Obi-Wan wasn’t sure even _he_ could have managed.

“But the…”

“Got it covered, General. Trapper and Boil already entered in all the numbers.” Cody leaned in to tap at the screen of the datapad, and another report appeared, followed by two more in quick succession. “Supplies, head counts, defense capabilities. All right here for your approval, sir.”

“Well, I should…”

Another document appeared on the screen. “I finished drafting the requisition five minutes ago, sir. It just needs your signature.”

“Then I…”

Cody’s voice might almost have been amused if it weren’t so professional. “Have nothing else to do for the moment, sir? Yes, I believe that to be the case.”

Obi-Wan blinked. “I…thank you, Commander.”

It wasn’t far back to the _Negotiator_ , but every inch felt a mile. His ears seemed to pound in the silence of his quarters, when he reached them, a distinct counterpoint to the busyness of the day.

As the door settled slid closed behind him, his transceiver went off, and Obi-Wan had to let out a slow breath before accepting the transmission. Anakin flickered into view before him, his eyes creasing in a sudden smile.

“Hey, Obi-Wan.”

Obi-Wan sat down gently on the bed, his eyes fixed on Anakin’s face. “It's very good to see you, dear one.”

**Author's Note:**

> Obi-Wan sends fruit baskets to every member of the 212th.
> 
> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this unrepentant fluff.
> 
> I'm [treescape](https://treescape.tumblr.com/) on tumblr if you ever want to say hi.


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